Parties, Interest Groups, and Public Policy

Political parties and interest groups: How do they influence our political decisions?

8.4 Making Public Policy

For decades, U.S. officials have considered ways to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil as part of a broad-based energy policy. Should the government permit oil drilling in waters off the nation’s coasts? Should drilling be allowed in national parks and wildlife refuges? Should public money be used to develop other energy sources, such as solar, wind, and nuclear power? The answers to such questions have shaped our nation’s public policy on energy.

Public policy refers to government actions or programs designed to achieve certain goals. Creating public policy is a multistep process. Government officials, policy experts, political parties, interest groups, and concerned citizens all take part in such policymaking. This diagram outlines how the policymaking process works.

Seeing What Needs Attention: Issue Identification

The first step in policymaking is identifying problems and issues that need to be addressed. Sometimes a crisis brings an issue to public attention. This happened when Middle East oil producers blocked sales to the United States for a few months in 1973 and 1974. The resulting energy crisis forced Americans to begin thinking of ways to reduce this nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

Public officials can also raise awareness of issues. Until 1964, for instance, most Americans viewed smoking as a matter of personal choice. That year, the surgeon general of the United States issued a report linking cigarette smoking to lung cancer. His report raised the issue of whether smoking should be discouraged as a matter of public policy.

Choosing Issues to Address: Agenda Setting

Government officials cannot address all the problems facing the nation at any one time. They have to make choices, selecting the issues that seem most critical and setting others aside. Agenda setting requires officials to decide which issues should be part of the public agenda, or set of public priorities.

Some issues pop onto the public agenda as a result of a disaster. The 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon put fighting terrorism high on the nation’s public agenda. Similarly, after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, repairing damaged levees around the city shot to the top of that area’s public agenda.

Other issues take a long time to become part of the public agenda. One example is global warming. For years, scientists have been warning about the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on Earth’s climate. But for the most part, their concerns were ignored. As scientific knowledge and evidence of climate change have mounted, however, global warming has found its way onto the public agenda of many public officials and lawmakers.

Political parties and interest groups often play a role in setting the public agenda. Parties help by placing issues on their platforms, thus making those items a priority for the candidates they elect. Interest groups do the same by lobbying for certain issues.

Deciding What to Do: Policy Formulation

Once an issue is on the public agenda, government officials work on formulating a policy to address it. This step may take place within any branch of government. It can also happen at the local, state, or national level. Legislatures or city councils make policy by passing laws or statutes. Executive officials or agencies make policy by setting new rules and regulations. The judicial system can influence policy, too, through court decisions and rulings.

When officials begin to formulate a policy, they ask some basic questions: Is this a problem government should address? If so, what options should be considered? Should government pass a new law, create a new or expanded program, or offer a new benefit? What are the costs and benefits of each option?

In response to the surgeon general’s report on smoking, for example, officials considered a number of policies. These ranged from warning labels on cigarette packages to regulating cigarettes as drugs. When considering such varied options, officials may ask experts to offer their opinions. They may also invite interest groups to present their views. This helps ensure that the policy they finally adopt takes various perspectives and interests into account.

Putting Proposals into Action: Policy Adoption

Many policies are formulated as legislation. These bills must first pass through Congress, state legislatures, or city councils to become law. This legislative process often results in substantial revisions. A policy proposal may be changed to gain the support of a majority of legislators. Or it may be modified to avoid legal challenges or a threatened veto by a governor or president.

Sometimes the president works with members of Congress and key interest groups to get policies adopted. President Lyndon Johnson, for instance, worked closely with Congress and civil rights leaders to win passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1990, President George H. W. Bush joined with lawmakers and disability activists to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act. This law helped make public facilities more accessible to people with disabilities.

In other cases, interest groups take the lead in getting new policies adopted. The American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association, for example, have taken the lead in promoting laws banning smoking in public places. By 2010, 25 states had enacted comprehensive smoking laws that banned smoking inside of worksites, bars, and restaurants.

Making a Policy Work: Implementation

After a policy is adopted, it must be implemented. Usually, implementation is assigned to a specific government agency. That agency then becomes responsible for making the new policy work.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, for example, Congress enacted a number of antiterrorism policies. The job of implementing these policies was given to the newly created Department of Homeland Security. DHS took on a host of responsibilities, from intelligence gathering to border security. To accomplish its goals, DHS officials worked closely with state and local governments.

Assessing the Effectiveness of a Policy: Evaluation

The final step in the policy process is evaluation. Government officials and concerned interest groups assess whether implemented policies have met their goals. If changes need to be made, the policymaking process begins again.

After New York City outlawed smoking in bars and restaurants in 2003, the city’s Department of Health carried out a study to assess the results. Its researchers found that air pollution levels had decreased six-fold in bars and restaurants after the ban went into effect. The study also found that contrary to predictions, business remained good despite the smoking ban. A 2006 study by the state of New York found similar results.

Not all policies that show positive results manage to survive, however. For example, studies show that a policy of requiring motorcycle riders to wear helmets reduces the likelihood of dying in a crash by about one-third. Nonetheless, faced with stiff opposition from motorcycle riders, some states have not passed mandatory helmet laws. Moreover, a few states with such laws have repealed or are considering repealing them. For a policy like this one to be successful, it must achieve its goals and win public approval.


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